Why Now Is the Perfect Time to Jailbreak Your iPhone

The last time that the latest version of iOS was jailbroken was way back toward the end of 2013. It might not seem like that long ago, but it was well over seven months since iOS 7 was first cracked and ready to be jailbroken. Since then, we’ve seen multiple iOS 7 updates, including big updates to iOS 7.1, which officially patched up the jailbreak exploits used.

However, a new jailbreak team called Pangu came to the rescue and released an untethered jailbreak for iOS 7.1 and newer, thus marking a new point in time when the latest version of iOS is now jailbroken.

This means that if you haven’t jailbroken your iPhone or iPad yet, or if you’re jailbroken on iOS 7.0.X, there’s no better time than the present to update to iOS 7.1.2 and jailbreak before Apple ends up patching the exploits used.

Of course, we’re not sure if iOS 7.1.2 will be the last iOS 7 update that we’ll see before iOS 8 eventually lands in the fall, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see an update iOS 7.1.3 release at some point during the summer.

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We’re not sure if Apple would patch up the Pangu jailbreak exploits in iOS 7.1.3 if they were to release it, but we wouldn’t be surprised both ways. If iOS 7.1.3 did release, it would most likely be a fairly minor update, addressing a couple of security bugs and maybe add some overall performance improvements into the mix, but it’s possible that those minor security bugs could be enough to squash the Pangu jailbreak.

Jailbreak developers who release jailbreaks to the public are always cautious as far as when they release them, and the exploits that they discover are extremely precious, almost like discovering a heap of gold in the mines. Because of this, dev teams like the Evad3rs make sure to release jailbreaks at just the right time so that Apple won’t be able to patch it up until the next version of iOS comes out (or at least until the next big update of an iOS version).

For example, an iOS 7 jailbreak was discovered long before it was publicly released. In fact, developers and hackers alike were able to break into the iOS 7 beta versions before iOS 7 itself was even released to the public. The thing is, if the jailbreak was released before iOS 7 officially launched, it would give Apple enough time to patch up the exploits and crank out a new version and launch that one as iOS 7, officially closing up any jailbreak hopes for iOS 7 and essentially wasting a jailbreak.

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This is why jailbreak developers keep any and all exploits close to the chest. Before the release of the Pangu iOS 7.1.1 jailbreak, there was little hope that an iOS 7.1.X jailbreak would arrive anytime soon. Developers and hackers feared that if they released an iOS 7.1.1 jailbreak, Apple would get a hold of the exploits and use them to patch up iOS 8. It looks that may be the case now that an iOS 7.1.X jailbreak is out of the bag.

So far, though, Apple has not patched up any jailbreak exploits in the iOS 8 betas, but that likely will come later in the summer when the company releases the last iOS 8 beta or the Gold Master release, which is the last version before the public release.

Jailbreak developer iH8sn0w says, “With what I’ve seen so far on beta 1, there does not look like there are many setbacks to make that impossible,” referring to the difficulty of an iOS 8 jailbreak. Of course, we’ve already seen proof of iOS 8 beta 1 getting jailbroken, but that’s not entirely surprising, seeing as how Apple didn’t patch up any exploits yet.

We should ultimately expect the same timeline for the iOS 8 jailbreak as the iOS 7 jailbreak, which was released a few months after iOS 7 was publicly launched in September 2013. Because of this, you’ll probably be waiting a while for an official iOS 8 jailbreak to release no matter what.

Apple says that iOS 8 will arrive at some point in the fall, with a specific release date still under wraps, but multiple beta versions have already released this summer for developers to try out. Recent rumors have suggested that the iPhone 6 will launch on September 19, and if the release timeline is anything like last year’s, iOS 8 will come a couple days before the iPhone 6′s launch.

All we can do, though, is simply cross our fingers and pray and that an iOS 8 jailbreak comes as soon as possible without risking Apple the opportunity to patch up any exploits. However, we’ll likely have to be really patient.